Ex-Belgium coach hits the Portuguese national team
Roberto Martínez, former coach of Belgium, is appointed to succeed Fernando Santos in charge of the Portuguese national team.
According to the British newspaperthe telegraph“, the 49-year-old Spanish coach is on the radar of the Portuguese Football Federation, which is looking for a coach to start the qualifying campaign for Euro 2024.
Martínez left the Belgium national team after being eliminated in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup. They passed Morocco – which would eliminate Portugal – and Croatia, which reached the semi-finals in Qatar.
When he announced his departure from office, the coach underlined that the decision had already been taken before the start of the World Cup.
Mourinho or Martinez?
The 2022 World Cup also left Portugal without a coach. Fernando Santos paid for Morocco’s elimination in the quarterfinals.
José Mourinho has been appointed to the post insistentlyhowever, he has a contract with Roma until 2024 and the director general of the Italian club has already explained that he has the Portuguese coach for the future.
“It wasn’t the first time that another club or federation was interested in him. When you hire a coach like Mourinho, dozens of be prepared for these types of rumours. (…) I’m Portuguese, whenever Portugal changes selection, people talk But we are sure that José is still here as coach of Roma”, said Tiago Pinto, in an interview with “Gazzetta dello Sport”, published on Tuesday.
The “Telegraph” points to the name of Roberto Martínez to succeed Fernando Santos and refers that the Spanish coach may have to decide whether he wants to continue training professionally or return to club football.
Martínez has been Belgium coach since 2016. Before that, he coached Swansea (Wales), Wigan and Everton, in the United Kingdom.